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"       Readers who downloaded the May 2011 edition of Popular Mechanics on an iPad got a bonus: a game called Touchdown, in which the player engineers a spacecraft to land on Earth, Mars, or the asteroid Ceres. Once you select a destination, the game offers detailed information about the target. Engineer the lander wisely and the craft sets down safely, but choose the wrong combination of cargo, fuel, and braking system and you&amp;#039;ll crash. We&amp;#039;re proud to say that this week Touchdown was nominated for a digital National Magazine Award in the Multimedia category, which honors the use of interactivity and multimedia in the coverage of an event or subject. We&amp;#039;re nominated along with other great publications: The Atavist, Slate, Golf Digest, and Foreign Policy. The awards are sponsored by the American Society of Magazine Editors, in association with the Columbia University&amp;#039;s Graduate School of Journalism.  Touchdown, in true Popular Mechanics style, was a DIY effort. Our news editor, Joe Pappalardo had the idea, and assigned one of our science correspondents, Michael Belfiore, to do the reporting. The design, animation, and programming were all done in-house. One of the best parts of working on our tablet edition is the opportunity to invent new forms of journalistic storytelling, and this is a great example. It&amp;#039;s an article-game hybrid that&amp;#039;s based on solid reporting every step of the way.  You can check out the magazine app here. We&amp;#039;ve also taken some other PopMech creations that began as extra features for the iPad edition and spun them off as free standalone apps. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/gaming/a11952/pms-touchdown-game-garners-digital-asme-nomination/>